Just Father
by Rose235b
Summary: "Do you want me to come with you two?" "No" Pietro shook his head, putting the sweater on Luna. "This is something I need to do on my own" He took a step back, admiring the outfit he chose for his daughter. Jeans, a pretty white shirt and a yellow cardigan. He was a fucking toddler-fashion genius. "But thank you, Wanda." (Set between chap 2 and 7 of Full Of Life Now)


Pietro took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before another attempt.

"Come on" He growled out, straightening his stance. "Show me whatcha got!"

He grabbed Luna's left foot and ignored the right one as it kicked at his wrist. Pietro put the tiny shoe on and secured the Velcro, sighing in relief.

"Luna" He stared down at the toddler, watching her writhe around on the bed. "Please, we're going to meet my father today, baby-"

"Daddy!" She tried to kick the shoe off with her other foot. "No! No _pantof_!"

"Baby" It still melted his heart when he heard her call him that. Who would have guessed, him, a father? Hearing her say odd words in Romanian didn't help his façade of a strict grown up either, but for fuck's sake, his daughter will _not_ meet his father barefoot. " _Vă rog._ Sweetheart, for me?"

Luna huffed and crossed her tiny arms over her chest, still kicking but staying silent as he put her right shoe on.

"See, it wasn't so bad."

Luna hopped off her bed and ran off, yelling for Wanda at the top of her lungs.

Pietro sighed, hiding his face in his hands.

"Count to ten, count to ten" He heard the now familiar sound of Luna tripping over her own feet and landing on the carpet and a second later he was at her side, watching her stand back up again and run into Wanda's legs.

His sister sighed and reached down to brush Luna's blonde hair back.

"What is it?" Her voice always turned sweet when she was around Luna and Pietro was further convinced that his baby girl was a walking miracle.

"Daddy put _pantof_ on!" She kicked her foot to the side, showing the offending accessory to her aunt.

"Luna, shoes aren't the worst thing in the world" Wanda rolled her eyes, prying Luna's hands off her knees. "Now, go back to your dad and finish dressing up."

Luna sniffed a couple of times and seeing that her aunt didn't budge turned around and walked back to Pietro. He scooped her up and walked back to her room, sitting her back down and reaching for her sweater.

"Do you want me to come with you two?"

"No" Pietro shook his head, putting the sweater on Luna. "This is something I need to do on my own" He took a step back, admiring the outfit he chose for his daughter. Jeans, a pretty white shirt, and a yellow cardigan. He was a fucking toddler-fashion genius. "But thank you, Wanda."

"No problem" His sister walked over to the small bed and kissed Luna's forehead. "Be nice, cupcake."

"'m not a cupcake" Luna giggled, squirming away.

"Yeah, dawgette, cause you're a damn daffodil if I've ever seen one" Todd hopped into the room, screaming as Wanda shot at him.

"Language!" Wanda followed Toad out of the room, locking eyes with him. "It's just father, Pietro."

"Yeah," He said under his breath. " _Just_ father."

* * *

Getting to the base was easier than Pietro expected.

He thought that a terrorist like Magneto would surround himself with a ton of security measures, but he didn't see anything even out of the corner of his eye. There should be minuscule movements of lenses, shifting lights of motion lasers and so much more. This was either a place he just moved into or his father truly was insane.

He put Luna down just as the huge, steel doors opened.

Pietro didn't remember the last time he saw his father out of the costume. It must have been before he entered the system.

"Pietro."

"Father" He nodded, feeling his spine tense up. "This is my daughter, Luna."

She was always a bit shy around strangers, there was no getting around that. She was glued to his leg and looked uncertainly at the older man. Pietro knew she could see the resemblance between them.

"Hey, _myszko_ " His father crouched down, trying to not be as intimidating. Pietro had no idea if that was possible and the use of the same pet name he gave Wanda only made him tenser. "My name is Erik and I'm your grandfather."

"I know" She whispered, still not letting go of Pietro's jeans. "Daddy told me."

There was something in his father's eyes that Pietro couldn't read. He invited them in, leading them through unnervingly normal looking corridors to a frighteningly normal looking sitting room.

"We've just moved base" He explained, pointing at the boxes. "Sorry about the mess."

Pietro was speechless, seeing how uncomfortable his father looked. Luna immediately made her way to the table where a platter of _kokosanki_ was awaiting. He remembered that his father usually brought some from different kosher stores until he found his favorites in a Polish bakery. He remembered coconut getting stuck between his teeth. He remembered Wanda devouring this stuff.

It was so weird to watch his child do the same, so much so that he almost completely forgot that her hands were unwashed and that she wasn't supposed to eat sweets before lunch.

"Luna!" He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the cookies. Her cheeks were already full of the coconut dessert. "Not before lunch!"

His father chuckled, watching Pietro's panic.

"Unless she has your powers, we've got nothing to worry about."

"Yes, we do" He took out a small pack of moist towelettes from his back pocket and started to clean up the mess that was her sticky hands and face. "I'm trying to raise her right you know? That means regular rules and me being present."

It was a cheap jab, but Pietro wasn't above playing dirty.

His father didn't acknowledge it, which was new. Instead, he turned to the toddler.

"I see you like _kokosanki_ , _myszko_ " He smiled. "Well, my mother would call them _makrony_ and fuss at me for being more Polish than Jewish" There once again was something Pietro couldn't read behind the smile. His father seemed different, older, or was rather more closely resembling his age. "Is she Jewish?"

"Um, the same way I am" Crystal's family was of Irish Catholic descent as far as he knew. And he didn't really feel like going through her family tree to find a Jewish great-great-grandmother that would apply. "So I guess?"

They did have a menorah that they lit up with Wanda in December. But the guys also had a Christmas tree and got Luna some presents. And it wasn't like Pietro really cared about eating kosher foods, unlike Wanda. But that started only after the brainwashing.

"Her mother-"

"Is gone. And her family is out of the picture" Pietro didn't really want to talk about it, so he changed the subject. "Since when is this whole thing happening" He gestured around the room, knowing that his father will immediately know what he was talking about.

"Since the Apocalypse" He sighed, sitting down and gesturing to the couch. "That box is something I got for you, _myszko._ I'm just tired, Pietro."

They both watched as Luna opened her present and smiled at the doll she found inside.

"Her name's Wanda" She declared, sitting the doll down next to Pietro. "Like aunty."

"That's a great name, Luna" His father smiled warmly at the toddler and Pietro finally relaxed, letting his body sink into the sofa.

He'll inevitably fight with his father over abandoning both him and Wanda. But for now, he was tired and decided to let himself enjoy the thought of them being a normal family.


End file.
